Fungus Help

Jaycee27August 4, 2013

Here I am again with my next question regarding my dad's large Monstera deliciosa. The other day he found a mushroom growing with his Monstera. Any ideas how he can stop this from happening and if it is damaging the plant?

this again has to do with water retention i.e. soggy soil, like the gnats. there are some great threads on it here. short term just let the soil dry more before watering. long term check through the info here and switch to more porous soil mixes.

someone on this forum had a great line that helped me understand watering. it was something like over watering is a misnomer its more like under drying. ready made soils don't provide good enough drainage and hold way too much water.

no damage to plant from the shrooms either. I had some really funky yellow looking ones a couple years ago, scared me to death lol

The only way to prevent the mushrooms from appearing again is to repot and rinse the roots. BUT, this type of fungus does no damage to the plant. It's feeding on and decomposing the potting medium. Not good in the long run, as the texture of the mix will become mucky over time.

By the way, the real fungus body consists of a big network of underground mycelium and hyphae doing the job all the time, all year round. The mushrooms are merely temporary, seasonally fruiting bodies. You can yank them out as soon as they appear but the decomposing will go on.